PVS Swap meet

Hi everyone. If you're like me you've got tons of bike related stuff laying around that you'd love to get rid of but can't bear to throw away. Using eBay or Craigslist is a pain and I rather deal with my friends insted of strangers. So I thought we'd use the blog to maintain a sort of "swap meet" list of used items we're looking to sell or trade. For example I have a Mavic 650 wheelset, a Mavic Helium 700 wheelset, dura ace 10spd shifters, 105 9spd shifters and derailleurs, a Ritchey crankset, sella san marco saddle, 90mm alum tem and CX fork and CX breaks. I even have a 10yr old GT Zasker MTB that needs a home where it will be used. I’m looking for a cycle computer with cadence function and a triathlon saddle. I you’re interested let me know! Pat patrimron@fcds.org

Assault on Caraway Mountain

Mitch, Scott, Rob and I headed out for G'boro Saturday afternoon for a "60-ish" mile ride from Revolution Cycles. Watts Dixion was organizing this one, and for only $10 we got a neat ride with a good climb, post-race food and Hummingbird ale (in growlers!) and a chance at some cool raffle prizes. On to the fun...

With a 1pm start time, it seemed auspicious from the beginning. We finally rolled out with a smallish peloton around 1:15 and immediately there was trouble. In addition to navigating city stoplights and traffic, a rider had two flats within the first 3 miles. Better than this, no one brough along sufficient supplies to fix it and keep going! We had to wait for the SAG waggon to bring a tire pump for the poor guy. Now, at 1:45, we were finally off and running.

After a slow pace in the city, the illuminati (cuz they knew where we were going) started to pick up the pace. Unfortunately, these guys loved to hammer and yo-yo vs. keep a steady pace. More than once we'd speed up a hill just to get to a stop sign and come to a complete halt with heartrates in the 160s. Eeesh.

Nevertheless, we arrived on the slopes of Caraway Mountain (which some had said was "like Pilot") with a small group up front. I was dangling on the back of this crowd, but again, not knowing the route or climb, I was hesistant to go 100%. By the way, I should add here that the first person to the top of the climb was guaranteed a sweet $140 Cane Creek headset. I was in the market...

Market or not, I wimpishly slipped off the back as the group turned for the summit. This section was just ridiculous. I heard one guy say the grade was 22% for nearly 1/2 mile. I'm not sure I believe that, as it was more like two steeps and a plateau in between, but on a standard crankset and with 30 disorganized miles in the legs already, it was quite painful. I ended up 6th to the summit with Mitch and Scott right there as well. I hear the guy who won was 13th at Mt. Mitchell last year. Again, eesh.

We took a quick break and then made for home. Here is where it got really hard. Again, the ride leaders were just hammering...over hills, down hills, but relatively easy on the flat. Our group splintered at mile 41 or 42 as we just lost interest in (and energy for) that kind of punishment. We formed a grupetto of 4, with a strong female rider from California. We rolled in pretty steady, but were a good 15 minutes behind the hammerheads. Rumor has it they took a shortcut back to the bike shop...

Despite all of this, there was great food at the post-race event. Chicken, corn, hot dogs, and growlers of beer. Nice. Oh, and Scott was cool and gave me the coffee he won in the raffle!

Now, what about that 3 Mountain Madness?

I think my facial expression says it all.

Ride this Weekend in Greensboro

There is a ride this weekend in Greensboro for those interested. It will be something different at least.

Rob, Scott Rapoport, Erich(?) and myself are going.

Read below.

This Saturday, Revolution Cycles, NC will be hosting our official name change party!

Firstly... There will be a store wide sale! Everything will be marked down with some items being on mega-closeout! And I mean "I don't know? what would you give me for it?" kind of closeout. I'll be dragging out a ton of stuff from our warehouse and sincerely asking you all to help me do some belated Spring Cleaning. From the bling, to the norm, to the esoteric, to the "one man's junk is another's treasure"... there will be alot of...umm...stuff. So come help us clear it out.

Secondly... There will be an Assault on Mt. Caraway bike ride with a few route options. The offical Caraway ride will be about 60 miles, minimum, with an 80 mile option climbing Dave's Mtn as well.
But here's the deal... At the top of Caraway, there will be a few KING OF THE MOUTAIN primes. First rider to the summit gets a Cane Creek 110 headset! valued at $140! Second place will get a blingin' prize as well! The other primes will be available to ANYONE who makes it to the summit! Crest the summit and your name will go in a drawing. So maybe you weren't the fastest... that's a tough little hill and you deserve the chance at a damn prime too, right?
Sadly, shorter than 60 and we can't ride to Caraway. But there will be a nice scenic route out on the east side of town for those looking for a nice 20-50 mile jaunt.
The ride will roll out around 1:00pm from the shop parking lot. Please park behind on the adjacent street, or across the street in the neighborhood. That way we keep the lot free for the festivities afterward.

Which gets us to Thirdly...
By the time we roll back in to the shop, Greg from Taqueria El Azteca will be cooking some burgers, chicken, and other goodies (fret not...veggie folks will be accounted for). Please BYOB, just in case.
New deal... $10 bucks gets you into the ride and cookout!
Please give me some heads up as soon as possible on whether or not you will attend the ride/picnic so that we have a rough idea on how much food we'll need. Thanks!
Cookout should begin around 4:00pm or so. If you couldn't make the ride, please feel free to join us for the picnic. Just let us know...We'll figure it out.
And PASS IT ON. Seriously, the more the merrier. We're going to have a TON of food. (BYOB please. No promises...)
And we want to see a TON of people. We're super stoked about all of this and can't wait to see folks.
Feel free to call us with any questions or comments, because I'm sure I've omitted something.
Thanks folks. See you soon!
Sincerely,

Watts Dixon
Grand Moff
Revolution Cycles NC
2823 Spring Garden St.
Greensboro, NC 27403
www.revolutioncyclesNC.com
336-852-3972

Good showing for the team at ACE

Last night 5 members of the team traveled to Ace Speedway to race. We were able to race 2 races back to back. In the first race we were able to get a rider in an early break. The rest of our team did a fantastic job of slowing the pace of the field so that the break could lap the field. At the end of the first race we ended up with a fourth place finish.

The second race was full of attacks. The first attack took off as soon as the race began. One of the attacks had 4 strong riders in it without anyone from our team. I chased to bring this break back and took a few riders with me. After about a lap of chasing I looked around to find I was by myself. I gave a try at catching up to the break, but was not able to catch 4 strong riders working together. The field never would work to bring back this break and it eventually got a lap on the field. Several riders from our team made great attempts at breaks but all of them were eventually chased down. With about 3 laps to go 3 riders crashed hard. No one on our team was involved. The crash was right in front of me. I was fortunate enough to slip between the crash and the guard rail as the fallen bikes and riders slid down the banking of the race track. The race was neutralized for a few laps and then ended in a sprint finish. Everyone was happy to just get to the line safely.

We had a fun night of racing and got in a lot of speed work. Everyone on our team rode strong.

regards,

Charlie

Thanks for the pics and writeup Charlie

Wednesday Night Recovery (Race) Ride

What a fun night. Drew, Mitch, and I showed up to enjoy Paceline's Recovery Ride. This ride is all about having a good time, so we yacked for two laps around Dull Rd. before the mood turned more serious. Unfortunately, Drew (being the gentleman he is) escorted two riders who were having trouble back to the shop. He missed the fireworks.

Ride leader Curtis was looking to repeat last week's smashing of the peloton by playing the waiting game. In his post-race interview, Mitch confessed that his strategy was to 'take it easy' up the first big hill then crank on it. I recalled Curtis' advice from last week's win ("hit it at the bottom of the hill"). What would happen, especially with Young Drew out of the picture? Well, here's the play-by-play of the 3rd lap:

Taking the right on Styers Ferry, all was quiet. Sure, there were the usual twitchy moments and squirts of speed that signal the rising anticipation of a break. Scott was playing mind games with all of us by speeding off and letting up. He had a follower in Jeff at one point, and pulses began to rise, but by the time we got to the big downhill, Mitch was holding steady, Curtis, Rob, and I were sitting on, and Scott was still dangling out front a bit. No one was really punching it.

At the bottom of the hill, I let out some slack and drifted left to avoid braking, grabbed a reasonable big-ring gear and got on it. Curtis and Rob came with me and before I knew it we were a trio cresting the hill. Rob calmly (barely breathing) utters "C'mon E-rich!" but my body wanted to rest a bit so I dug deep. Curtis was on my wheel, and we had a healthy gap in the works with two workhorses and a twerpy climber.

Curtis, no doubt still recovering from his iron-fisted dusting of all-comers last week had to fade a little after taking a long pull. Rob and I now found ourselves trading off and (at least I was) looking back to see who was on the trail. After Curtis, there was a good gap to the chasers, so the Curt-dawg was in 'no man's land.' Looking back 15 seconds later, Curtis was closing the gap (with Mitch and Scott closing) so I actually pulled out my whip and began to lash Rob and shout "hyah!" This helped things considerably.

With the Speed Limit sign in sight, Rob and I were clear with clean wheels. Whew! I shudder to think what might have happend if Drew were there...ugh. Here's a pic of Curtis (chatting cooly on his cellular telephone) & crew before we made for home.

Weekend Racing

Hopefully most of you are getting out to burn some rubber this weekend. Charlie, Jill, and I are going to race a sprint Triathlon in Statesville on Saturday. It should be a good race and we're hoping for good results.

It also looks like Dave Reid is putting together a training ride for the Three Mountain Madness, so contact him if you're interested.

Congrats to Mitch and Chancey, who have now upgraded to Cat 4. I hear that at least Chancey is racing in the Triangle...and that others may join him, including Professor Hurt. Good luck and carry the blue 'n white flag!

I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE.......

..........and it's the Shimano Dura-Ace Electronic. I'm not one to shy away from technology, I like it. There are people who like to wait on the second or third generation product before they buy it to make sure all the kinks are worked out. Then there are people like me who don't do that. Most people I talk to aren't to enthused about the idea of electronic shifting. Then there are people like me who want to know how much it cost. There are people who think it just complicates things, why change a good thing? Cables are tried and true. Then there are people like me who think things can improve. Anyway, I digress.

To make a long story short. Rob Paynter is riding a Storck with Electronic Dura-Ace for the time being. He is thinking about buying it. I have read positive reviews on the shifting, but reading about it and using it are 2 completely different things. I don't use the same pedals as Rob so I only rode it around the parking lot, but that little time was enough to convince me that I need to start selling some plasma to raise money.

If you ever get a chance to test ride it you will most likely not be disappointed.

Erich didn't test ride it because he was afraid he might like it too much. I should have had that will power.

On to the pics.....

Tomato Head Omnium

This past weekend Sirena, Rip Nicholson (MOB women's racing teammate of Sirena's), and I went to Knoxville, TN to do the Tomato Head Omnium. First off let me say I picked the race due to the name. The omnium was three crits in two days...two Saturday and one Sunday. That is my kind of omnium with short/fast racing. We left Friday night after I got off work. A four hour drive turned into a 6-hr nightmare. We got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic just into TN around Gatlinburg. Rip had some old rugby teammates and they let us stay in their insanely nice house in Knoxville. So we showed up on their doorstep at midnight. Bad thing is that Sirena and Rip had to race at 7AM Saturday morning. Rough beginning but it got better.
Saturday
The first crit was in Chilhowee Park, which is a lot like Dixie but it has 7 or so corners in 4/10 of a mile. It was technical and had one small hill. The women's cat4 race started at 7AM (remember we are doing two crits Saturday thus the early start time). Sirena caught her pedal with five laps to go in a corner and had a ridiculous save. Rip won the race and Sirena would have been second but got a flat on the last lap (DNF)! My race was a lot of fun and very technical. I am not the best at corners and that got me. There were 20+ cat5 men. There was a local race team named Bike Zoo that had at least 5 riders in each race and they worked me and the rest of the pack to death. After about three-four laps there was a group of 6 of us that broke away. The bad thing was 4 of the group were Bike Zoo riders (Mitch where are you?). They would attack one after the other and one got away. I held on and finished 5th. We averaged 23mph.
Crit #2 was a rainfest. The course was in downtown Knowville (Old Town) and in an industrial area. It was ~.7 of a mile and had a LONG gradual uphill finish that was at least 300 meters. Sirena and Rip's race started at 12:30 and it was pouring. Rip was sitting pretty for the omnium and Sirena and Rip worker well together. Rip hung on and got second. Sirena had the best sprint I have seen her do and caught a lady at the line for 4th (I think). For my race the rain let up and was a drizzle to start and then it stopped. The course was wet and nasty. I had around 20 riders again. Bike Zoo dominated the race and a group of three got away. I did everything I could and pulled them back. On the last lap one got away and I was with a group of four (3 Bike Zoo). I sprinted up the entire hill and caught one at the line for a photo finish and I got 3rd! I finally podiumed at a crit/race not named Dixie.
Sunday
Crit #3 was in Maryville, TN. The rain went away and sunshine appeared. The course was in downtown and was .6 of a mile. It had numerous left-hand turns with one short, nasty hill that followed a 90-degree turn. Sirena and Rip rode well in the Women's 4s. Rip won the race and Sirena finished 4th. Again, Sirena had a mechanical and got another flat rear tire. Oh yeah, Sirena won a prime...a tire! Tough weekend of mechanicals for Sirena but she had fun.
My race (yes the 5s) had 20+ racers and Bike Zoo had about 19 of them (kidding, only 6). The race was very fast from the gun and within 2 laps the field was down to five leaders (3 Bike Zoo) with the winner from the junior race (17 y/o) and myself. The Bike Zoo guys attacked again but when that one guy got away and reeled him in. I won a prime...a water bottle and a gel. After that I knew I had nothing for the win but held on with the group. The last lap was really fast and I caught my pedal on the last turn and had to pull up. I got fifth.
Overall, I finished 4th in the omnium. Rip won the women 4s and Sirena got 4th. Good weekend and I highly recommend it next year.

Chancey

Dilworth Crit Report

The Dilworth Crit in the beautiful neighborhood of Charlotte was yesterday (Sat, May 2nd). I had the great opprtunity to race at 8:15Am in the Cat5 under 34 race. Us Cat5ers always seem to race a the buttcrack of dawn. There were around 20 racers in my race. The course was great with a long uphill finish. The long uphill followed a nasty left turn that was greater than 90 degress and had two manhole covers and some broken pavement in it. All which made that corner very challenging...especially in a 5 race! I started out the race not felling so well and having some heavy legs for some reason. The race was fast from the get-go. I tried to stay near the front. The race featured a lot of first-time racers and just a bunch of guys that were downright unsafe. There was alot of crossing wheels, elbow rubbing, and people not holding their lines. Then throw in that orner and it made for an unsafe race. With about 7 laps to go I had enough and went alone on a flyer. I made it 1+ laps but then I fatigued on the hill and was reeled in. I recovered for a few laps and then my beloved side-stitch issue reared it's ugly face. My side began cramping on the last two laps. I sat in and was in the middle of the pack heading into the last lap. The group began picking up the pace and everyone was acting crazy so in the last corner (the nasty one) I let the pack go and finished around 10th. I am learning it is better to live to fight another day than be mixed up in something dangerous. Not a huge fan of crashing, especially since my last crash. Danny raced in the 3-4 race and finished strong. Sirena finished third in the women's 4 race. Hope everyone else had a good weekend of racing.